Michael K. Lavers

1 week ago | washingtonblade.com | Michael K. Lavers

Tel Aviv authorities on Friday cancelled the city’s Pride parade after Israel launched airstrikes against Iran. The Associated Press notes the Israeli airstrikes targeted nuclear and military facilities in Iran. Reports indicate the airstrikes killed two top nuclear scientists and the leader of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. Iran in response to the airstrikes launched more than 100 drones towards Israel. The Israel Defense Forces said it intercepted them.

1 week ago | washingtonblade.com | Michael K. Lavers

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Saturday won re-election. Albanese’s Labor Party defeated the Liberal Party that Peter Dutton led. Dutton, who lost his seat in parliament, quickly conceded to Albanese, who is the first Australian prime minister to win re-election in 21 years. Foreign Minister Penny Wong, a lesbian who represents South Australia in the Australian Senate, on Saturday introduced Albanese at his victory party.

1 week ago | washingtonblade.com | Michael K. Lavers

Former Bogotá Mayor Claudia López on Saturday did not specifically discuss the growing speculation over whether she will run for president of Colombia in 2026 when she spoke at the LGBTQ+ Victory Institute’s annual International LGBTQ Leaders Conference in D.C. and with the Washington Blade.

2 weeks ago | washingtonblade.com | Michael K. Lavers

ILGA World has announced it will reinstate an Israeli LGBTQ rights group. The global advocacy group’s board last fall voted unanimously to suspend the Aguda, the Association for LGBTQ+ Equality in Israel, after it withdrew its bid to host the 2026/2027 ILGA World Conference. ILGA World in a May 1 statement said the Aguda’s reinstatement will take effect on Oct. 27, 2025, a year after the suspension began.

2 weeks ago | washingtonblade.com | Michael K. Lavers

Achen, not her real name, is a soft-spoken 26-year-old from northern Uganda. She never imagined she would run a business, let alone one that would allow her to earn enough to send her younger sister to school. For years, she moved from shelter to shelter, surviving day by day, evicted from rental rooms, beaten on the street, and regularly denied healthcare simply for being a transgender woman.